2GB RAM kit only seen as 250MB

munkyeetr

munkyeetr

New Member
Today I bought a 2GB kit of Kingston Value RAM (KVR400X64C3AK2/2G) and when I plugged the modules into my system and rebooted it was only seen as 250MB. My mainboard is the one in my signature, and according to the manual it supports 2GB of DDR 400Mhz RAM.

Mainboard specs

Steps I have taken:
1) With both modules plugged in I ran 1 pass of memtest32+ with no errors.
2) Reseated both modules and tried again. 250MB
3) Swapped which module was in which slot and tried again. 250MB
4) With only 1 module installed. 250MB
5) With only the other module installed. 250MB
6) Reinstalled my old RAM (a mix: (1x Azenram DDR PC3200 512MB) & (1x Kingston KVR400X64C3A/512 DDR PC3200 512MB)) and it is recognized as 1GB.

My current BIOS settings are as follows:
CAS Latency = 2.5 (I also tried it at 3)
DRAM Clock Mode = By SPD (Other value is Manual)
DRAM Clock = DDR400 (Other values are 200, 266, 300, 333)
DRAM Voltage = 2.6v

Anything look like it should be changed? Any other settings you can think of that you want to see?

I am wondering if I may need to upgrade my BIOS? I would rather not if I can avoid it, so I ask if anyone else has any ideas, or if they would recommend a BIOS upgrade.

It should also be known, in case anyone want me to run diagnostics or something, that I can only currently boot into Ubuntu 7.04 or Fedora Core 7 Linux
 
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I read another specifications page for your MOBO that for DDR400 you might have to manually set the timings in BIOS, maybe that'll help?
 
holdenssx said:
I read another specifications page for your MOBO that for DDR400 you might have to manually set the timings in BIOS, maybe that'll help?
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to that? I haven't manually set timings before, can anyone help me with that if that is the case?
 
I did try changing DRAM Clock Mode to Manual, and then set DRAM Clock to DDR400, but when it booted up it still showed (and shows now) the clock speed at DDR333. When I changed the CAS Latency the change was reflected next time I booted.
 
Heres the link: http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K8T_Neo-V

Due to the High Performance Memory design, motherboards or system configurations may or may not operate smoothly at the JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) standard settings (BIOS Default on the motherboard) such as DDR voltage, memory speeds and memory timing. Please confirm and adjust your memory setting in the BIOS accordingly for better system stability.
Click to expand...

I misread it, I guess it doesn't only apply to DDR400
 
The_Other_One said:
So it shows 250MB RAM in the BIOS? Or just windows?
Click to expand...

I see nothing in the BIOS itself that specifies how much RAM in installed. When I boot and it check my memory it displays 262144KB.

And I must reiterate, I am not running Windows, I am running Fedora Core 7 , and when I open KInfo Center and look at the memory tab it shows 250MB. Also in a couple other utilities it shows 250MB.

My BIOS version as displayed during boot up is A7032VMS v3.5 112304

EDIT: I am going to bed as I have to get up for work early in the morning. Please post any ideas and I will be back to read through them before the sun comes up.
 
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OK ok, sorry, I mean any OS :P But I got what I wanted. It's definetly some hardware issue and not software. I'd look for a RAM compatibility list for your mobo and see if such RAM is listed. Or perhaps exchange your RAM and get some other that is on the list. Though I think that's the exact same RAM I have and it works just fine here...heh, but of course I do have another mobo ^^;
 
Kornowski said:
Do you not have a Windows CD at hand, that you could install and see how much Windows recognizes?
Click to expand...

I do have a Windows CD, but considering that the BIOS only reads 262144KB during boot up, several utilities in both Ubuntu and Fedora only see 250MB, and the Knoppix Live CD utilities only read 250MB, it's not really worth the time and effort (as well as messing up my current dual-boot setup) to have Windows tell me the same thing.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the suggestion, but I'm 99.9% sure this isn't going to be an OS issue, it's a hardware issue.

I'll probably just run this past the technicians at work today and see what they say. I may very well need to flash my BIOS, or buy different RAM.
 
Yeah, it won't run unless you have Internet Explorer because it need to install Active X drivers. We use that at work sometimes to test what RAM a clients system needs.
 
Just wanted to post the resolution to my problem:

This morning I flashed the BIOS and whalla, 2GB of RAM recognized and ready for use! Memory also had no errors come up in 2 passes through memtest32+.

It is a good day.

Thread closed.
 
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